ABI Research: Cable to account for 25% of fixed broadband subscribers by 2017

Cable digitization efforts in developing economies will be a key driver for cable broadband penetration worldwide, driving service revenues to the $50 billion mark in 2017, according to the latest market analysis from ABI Research.

Cable operators in developing regions are entering the market for broadband services using the latest technologies – often leapfrogging older protocols. Cable MSOs’ ability to offer traditional video services, broadband services, and digital VoIP services gives cable vendors a triple-play offering that has attracted a large number of consumers.

As of 2011, China accounted for 57% of subscribers in the Asia-Pacific region. Chinese government investment and a cable digitization initiative in an effort to promote competition between TV broadcasters, telecom carriers, and Internet operators have been instrumental in this development.

In the United States, Canada and parts of Western Europe, cable operators’ adoption of DOCSIS 3.0 technology, with higher maximum speeds than DSL, has been a key competitive strength against telcos offering only DSL service.

“Cable MSOs’ marketing focusing on use of advanced services, such as video streaming, and number of devices in the home has encouraged consumers to upgrade to higher bandwidth tiers,” according to Adarsh Krishnan, senior analyst, TV and video at ABI Research.

Looking to next-generation bandwidth-hogging services, including 3D-TV and 4K video resolutions, technology providers are working with operators to prove out the next generation of DOCSIS. DOCSIS 3.1 focuses on upstream channel bonding for higher upload speeds.

“Intel has demonstrated its Puma 6 modem achieving 1-Gbps downlink using 24 channels, while Arris has tied together 12 modems to achieve 4.7-Gbps downlink,” said Sam Rosen, practice director of TV and video at ABI Research (see "Kabel Deutschland achieves 4.7 Gbps downstream with ARRIS gear").

These findings are part of ABI’s Broadband CPE Research Service, which provides an outlook on operators’ network deployments, consumer adoption and service revenues of cable broadband services as well as analysis of key trends in cable broadband technologies and the market place.